Although service specific training is not fundamentally broken, there currently exists no synchronized training regimen for joint initial entry crisis response forces. Simply stated, combat units that will ultimately fight together are not systematically training together. The uncertainties of future crises provide impetus for improving the preparation of crisis response forces, especially those that will find themselves first on scene. Operation Uphold Democracy, engineered by Atlantic Command as the unified command and the XVIIIth Airborne Corps as the Joint Task Force headquarters, provides a model for the forging of habitual relationships through a systematic scheduling alignment, and training, of joint initial entry crisis response forces. This paper advocates that Carrier Battle Groups (CVBG), Amphibious Readiness Groups (ARG), Marine Expeditionary Units (Special Operations Capable) (MEU(SOC)), Division Ready Brigades (DRB) and Aerospace Expeditionary Forces (AEF) adopt an aligned schedule with training and deployment cycles based on the Carrier Battle Group's 1 8-month cycle. The length of the cycle is due to ship maintenance and deployment cycles that are the least flexible to scheduling fluctuation among the services.

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